Robert Griffin III has gone from the covers of GQ and Sports Illustrated magazines to Desperation Times in a matter of a month. The Redskins are 0-3 for the first time since losing their opening five games in 2001, and their franchise quarterback has struggled coming back from major knee surgery in January.

Not only is Griffin not running as much, but he also has thrown four interceptions in 139 pass attempts after throwing five in 393 attempts as rookie. The Raiders are hoping one of the league's biggest stars last year doesn't get comfortable against them Sunday.

"He looks different," Oakland safety Charles Woodson told NFL Network. "Having an injury like that, it's all good to work as hard as you can to get back sooner than you want to, but the mental aspect - that's the part you really have to get over, and he's still dealing with that part."

Griffin is not stepping into his throws the way he did in his rookie year, when he completed 65.6 percent of his passes for 3,200 yards. And he's not taking off as much on the read-option (he ran for 815 yards in 2012), though he did run a season-high six times for 37 yards in Sunday's loss to the Lions.

Washington head coach Mike Shanahan says his quarterback has the heart of a champion, and it's a matter of time before things click the way they did during last season's seven-game win streak.

"I know one thing - it's that he's a competitor," Shanahan said. "When you get down or you don't have a great game, he's going to do everything he can, or he can do, to get himself the best opportunity to be successful. And that's what he does. He's a hard worker and hopefully he'll play his best game of the year this weekend."

Griffin is averaging 46.3 passes per game trying to get the Redskins going, and that is an NFL-record pace (Detroit's Matthew Stafford averaged 45.4 last season).

"I don't think this team has lost its sense of confidence," Griffin said. "We know how close we are. We know we can turn it around and we're built to get out of this hole, just like we were last year."

The Raiders gave up 536 yards to Denver on Monday night, but they might have an answer in case Griffin starts trying to run and make plays the way he did last season: Terrelle Pryor.

Pryor, the Raiders' quarterback who is questionable for Sunday's game with a concussion, ran a lot of read-option plays against the defense in training camp. The defensive linemen and linebackers, especially, learn their responsibilities by seeing a quarterback on the move who might or might not hand off.

"Yeah, it helps," defensive coordinator Jason Tarver said. "From Day 1, this defense is 'How do we take care of this (read-option); what are your rules?' ... T.P. did a great job running it, and the formations that we used in camp were very hard ones. So that was good for us."

The Raiders had better be ready, because you get the sense that Griffin won't be holding anything back at the Coliseum on Sunday.

"We want to start winning, and it starts this week against Oakland so we go into this bye week with a good feeling," he said, "and come out of it ready to go on a tear."

Pryor limited: Pryor returned to practice Thursday in limited fashion, and the quarterback did put on a helmet and go through some reps. He had missed Wednesday's practice with the aftereffects of a concussion but passed a test and was cleared for practice. The next step in the league's protocol is to be cleared for contact.

"He still has hurdles he has to clear," Raiders head coach Dennis Allen said. When asked if Pryor would start Sunday if he practiced Friday, Allen said, "We'll see."

Matt Flynn has been taking the first-team reps at practice and is preparing to start against the Redskins. He lost the job to Pryor in the preseason and sat out the fourth preseason game with a sore arm.